I looked up from my prone position and witnessed a rather peculiar thing. The green feet that I saw were attached to an equally green body of - what I could only assume at that point - a goblin. His eyes were covered by dark glasses and the only real feature of his face that I could see was the smile. A very wide one filled with pointy teeth and remains of what they must have eaten previously.
That fellow wasn't alone; more goblins started to surround me, all wearing the same glasses and similar clothing. The only thing that I could use to distinguish one goblin from another was their jewelry. All of them wore something different, one had a set of golden earrings, another a pair of large golden bracelets and some wore different golden necklaces.
I tried getting up slowly, so as not to enrage the guy with a spear. As I was trying to lift myself up, the goblin once again stabbed the ground, this time closer to my face.
"Okay my guy, I'm not going anywhere, just let me stand up."
The goblin responded with some gibberish and a gale of laughter from the other goblins filled the air. I looked around for a way out, but there were goblins everywhere at this point. Suddenly, the panel from before appeared again and the laughter faded.
【HELLO KAI】
【YOU HAVE GOTTEN YOURSELF INTO TROUBLE AGAIN】
【IN THE FUTURE, PLEASE CONSIDER BEING LESS】
【P R O B L E M A T I C】
"Well sorry that you've dropped me right in the middle of their pack, you… whatever the hell you are! Can you at least help me here?"
【I AM ALEA, NOT 'WHATEVER THE HELL'.】
【NO I CANNOT HELP YOU, YOU WILL HAVE TO HELP YOURSELF】
"What do you mean I have to help myself? And how am I supposed to do that? Get up, kick them in the nuts and pray that they have nuts?"
【I CAN HOWEVER PROVIDE YOU WITH OPTIONS】
"Oh, okay, go on then, Alea."
【YOU HAVE A CLASS THAT WAS SELECTED FOR YOU BASED ON YOUR】
【P R E D I S P O S I T I O N S】
"Which predispositions? My natural beauty? My never-ending luck? My apparent talent of getting myself killed for billions of years that I didn't know about a day ago?"
【YOUR SELECTED CLASS IS】
【GAMBLER】
"That's a very fitting choice, I have to say."
【RIGHT NOW YOU HAVE ACCESS TO TWO SKILLS】
【Gambler's Strike - Every offensive action places a hidden wager. The System rolls against odds unknown to you. Win, and your damage scales with the stake. Lose, and the strike resolves without effect.】
【Max Bet - Before striking, declare a multiplier: 1x, 2x, or 3x. Win or lose, all outcomes scale accordingly. The odds don't change.】
"Okay, that looks pretty good. And that Max Bet thing? There's literally zero reason for me not to hit that 3X every single time. Let me try it out! "
【DO NOT BE SO FAST KAI, YOU HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT THE-】
"Skip, it's all good, I'll learn as I go, don't worry."
【IT IS YOUR CHOICE, I WILL NOT INTERFERE】
【GOOD LUCK KAI, YOU ARE GOING TO NEED IT】
The window dissipated yet again and I was met with the same green feet and the tip of the spear. The faded laughter got louder, but they didn't know what was about to hit them. I pushed myself from the ground and quickly landed on my feet. The goblin in front of me was surprised and as he pushed his spear into the ground, I was already standing.
I clenched my fist and looked straight into his eyes behind the glasses. A little red bar appeared above his head - 6/6. I guessed that it must be his health points and for a moment I wondered where my health status could be, but it didn't matter right now. I was about to unleash a storm of punches coming right their way.
I ducked a little bit to get more swing into my punch. I moved my hip first and my arm soon followed. A small text popped up in the corner of my eye that said "Gambler's Strike" and I knew it was the time to declare the bet. With a smile on my face I yelled "TIMES THREE" and a large "3X" flashed before my eyes.
As the punch was cutting through the air I saw a small coin appear. It flipped and soared through the air for a brief moment before landing on something invisible to me. The coin settled and suddenly rushed towards my face. On the side that was presented to me I saw a smiley face of a Joker and a word "Success" written on the rim.
My punch landed and I felt the glasses of the goblin shatter into hundreds of little pieces. His face caved in slightly and he flew into a tree behind him. The red bar above his head immediately got to 0 and in its place a small text floated "1 XP".
All the goblins looked in the direction their fellow companion got sent. Their laughter stopped and instead got replaced with a cacophony of blood-thirsty screams. I didn't care a bit for what they could send my way, I was ready.
A stone hurled towards my head and struck me right in the left temple. I wasn't ready for ranged attacks. These little shits didn't care about duel ethics. My vision got slightly blurry and I finally saw my health bar appear with a value of 8/10. It wasn't a lot so I knew the first stat that I would have to put points into. At least I hoped I could put points. In retrospect Alea didn't really tell me much about the system itself. Shit, maybe I shouldn't have skipped her introduction. Eh, guess I'll find out once I get there.
More stones hurled towards me and I moved my arms to protect my head. Suddenly a goblin appeared beside me with a look of pure determination. He swung and punched me right in my stomach. It hurt like a motherfucker. I questioned how such a little creature could hold so much strength in these little hands of his.
My health bar updated and the punch deducted a single health point from me. If that's what a single health point feels like, I don't even want to know what a critical hit could feel like.
I moved slightly and dodged the second hit that was coming my way. I put all my weight on my left foot and prepared to strike with an empowered kick of the right leg. I swung and the text appeared once again. Under my nose I declared a 3X once again and the coin flipped. Success once again. Maybe this was really a place where my luck could be turned upside down.
My leg connected with his rib cage. I felt his ribs give way one by one and he flew the same way his comrade did. Once again, a single experience point was awarded but I had no idea how many I would even need to level up.
The goblins' screaming got louder and some started banging their weapons against the nearby rocks. I felt the barrage of stones slowly subside as they must have run out of rocks to throw. I was lucky that they didn't start throwing their spears or other weapons.
I lowered my guard and looked around once again. I was still surrounded, but one part of the encirclement seemed to have fewer goblins per square inch. I picked up one of the stones that were thrown at me and tossed it up in my hand. I calculated the trajectory of the throw that would allow me to hit a goblin straight in the noggin.
I threw the rock with all the might I had. Nothing appeared and the rock flew high above the goblin. Man, I fucking suck at math.
I picked up another rock and hoped that this throw would be better. I swung and threw the rock in the general direction of the goblins. The text was once again in the corner of my eye. With full confidence I declared 3X and was ready to see the little head of this shitling disintegrate. The coin flipped and I awaited the result with a smug smile on my face. The coin landed and got closer to me. The joker on the coin wasn't happy, it was in fact crying quite profusely with a "failure" etched around him.
Shit, my first loss. I guess it must have happened at some point. No big deal though, I have a lot of rocks here and will gladly throw them.
As I was thinking, the stone arced towards the goblin. I stopped looking at it and picked up another stone to throw. I heard the shallow thud as the rock struck the goblin. What followed felt like I was hit by a truck going over the speed limit. The wave of pain that started at my forehead rushed through my body. Every little part of me felt like it was stabbed by thousands of little rocky needles.
My vision instantly went dark and my health bar dropped to exactly one point. How the hell did I get hit for seven points? What even hit me? I questioned the situation as I drifted away.
【KAI, IF YOU JUST LISTENED TO ME IT WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED.】